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University of Utah bioengineers discovered our understanding of language may depend more heavily on vision than previously thought: under the right conditions, what you see can override what you hear. These findings suggest artificial hearing devices and speech-recognition software could benefit from a camera, not just a microphone.
"For the first time, we were able to link the auditory signal in the brain to what a person said they heard when what they actually heard was something different. We found vision is influencing the hearing part of the brain to change your perception of reality -- and you can't turn off the illusion," says the new study's first author, Elliot Smith, a bioengineering and neuroscience graduate student at the University of Utah. "People think there is this tight coupling between physical phenomena in the world around us and what we experience subjectively, and that is not the case."
The brain considers both sight and sound when processing speech. However, if the two are slightly different, visual cues dominate sound. This phenomenon is named the McGurk effect for Scottish cognitive psychologist Harry McGurk, who pioneered studies on the link between hearing and vision in speech perception in the 1970s. The McGurk effect has been observed for decades. However, its origin has been elusive.
In the new study, which appears today in the journal PLOS ONE, the University of Utah team pinpointed the source of the McGurk effect by recording and analyzing brain signals in the temporal cortex, the region of the brain that typically processes sound.
Working with University of Utah bioengineer Bradley Greger and neurosurgeon Paul House, Smith recorded electrical signals from the brain surfaces of four severely epileptic adults (two male, two female) from Utah and Idaho. House placed three button-sized electrodes on the left, right or both brain hemispheres of each test subject, depending on where each patient's seizures were thought to originate. The experiment was done on volunteers with severe epilepsy who were undergoing surgery to treat their epilepsy.
These four test subjects were then asked to watch and listen to videos focused on a person's mouth as they said the syllables "ba," "va," "ga" and "tha." Depending on which of three different videos were being watched, the patients had one of three possible experiences as they watched the syllables being mouthed:
-- The motion of the mouth matched the sound. For example, the video showed "ba" and the audio sound also was "ba," so the patients saw and heard "ba."
-- The motion of the mouth obviously did not match the corresponding sound, like a badly dubbed movie. For example, the video showed "ga" but the audio was "tha," so the patients perceived this disconnect and correctly heard "tha."
-- The motion of the mouth only was mismatched slightly with the corresponding sound. For example, the video showed "ba" but the audio was "va," and patients heard "ba" even though the sound really was "va." This demonstrates the McGurk effect -- vision overriding hearing.
By measuring the electrical signals in the brain while each video was being watched, Smith and Greger could pinpoint whether auditory or visual brain signals were being used to identify the syllable in each video. When the syllable being mouthed matched the sound or didn't match at all, brain activity increased in correlation to the sound being watched. However, when the McGurk effect video was viewed, the activity pattern changed to resemble what the person saw, not what they heard. Statistical analyses confirmed the effect in all test subjects.
"We've shown neural signals in the brain that should be driven by sound are being overridden by visual cues that say, 'Hear this!'" says Greger. "Your brain is essentially ignoring the physics of sound in the ear and following what's happening through your vision."
Greger was senior author of the study as an assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Utah. He recently took a faculty position at Arizona State University.
The new findings could help researchers understand what drives language processing in humans, especially in a developing infant brain trying to connect sounds and lip movement to learn language. These findings also may help researchers sort out how language processing goes wrong when visual and auditory inputs are not integrated correctly, such as in dyslexia, Greger says.
Equipment used for these experiments was purchased as part of a Defense Advance Research Project Agency project to control and communicate with prostheses, in particular for recording signals to control a prosthetic limb. Additional funding for the study was provided by the University of Utah Research Foundation.
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Terrance Navy Moleskin Trouser
was: £120.00
(Price includes UK VAT)
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subset: commoncrawl


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I have dedicated this blog to a concept I call "democratic egalitarianism"--the idea that individuals flourish best in a free society that allows them to choose democratically the rules that govern their lives, with the understanding that the institutions must be sustainable and must allow all individuals to flourish, not just a select few. It is that latter idea that supports a view of egalitarianism--not that everyone is always "exactly" an equal of others, but that the society's resource allocation provisions have to counter the tendency for resources to concentrate in the hands of a powerful few. Since there can be no absolute equality, society's institutions must counter the tendency for wealth and power to aggregate in the hands of those with more wealth and power by mandating downward redistribution of wealth and power.
The claim is that every decision in society is in some way redistributionist. Most redistribute upwards to those that already have wealth and power and "connections". Society's institutions have to counter that--at least at the margins--with downward redistribution from those with wealth and power to those without wealth and power. Hence, a progressive income tax system that taxes those at the bottom of the income distribution less than those at the top serves this underlying value. A regressive sales tax system that taxes those at the bottom more severely, in relative terms, than those at the top undermines sustainable democracy.
The US is becoming more and more a society of haves and have-nots, a society that could allow a candidate for president to make claims about merit that suggest that anyone who isn't a successful "have more" is just plain irresponsible (Romney's infamous 47% speech to a private group of wealthy and powerful fundraisers). The Great Recession--engendered in large part by the greed of the have-more class, especially bankers and corporate managers and owners who reap disproportionate rewards for their labor or simple ownership of assets compared to the workers who make those rewards possible--has left the US an even more unequal society than it was before, as the wealthy have mostly recovered and moved ahead, while the middle class and poor have mostly suffered, with jobs that have moved from decent to inadequate and pay scales that continue to reflect the upper class's willingness to exploit the rest of society for their own selfish ends. (And this is true even if that upper class gives "generously" to charities that further their own interests and push their own views about education or transportation or religion onto the recipients of that "charity".)
The Times today has a number of excerpts from commencement speeches given by nationally known figures. I found the excerpt from Ben Bernanke's speech at Princeton worth noting. Here's the excerpt the Times printed:
"A meritocracy is a system in which the people who are the oluckiest in their health and genetic endowment; luckiest in terms of famiy support, encouragement, and, probably, income; luckiest in their educational and career opportunities; and luckiest in so many other ways difficult to enumerate--there are the folks who reap the largest rewards.
The only way for even a putative meritocracy to hope to pass ethical muster, to be considered fair, is if those who are the luckiest in all of those respects also have the greatest responsibility to work hard, to contribute to the betterment of the world and to share their luck with others." Ben Bernanke, excerpted in Commencement Speakers: In Looser Tone, A Call to Take Risks and Be Engaged, New York Times (June 16, 2013), at Y20
This sounds well and good as far as it goes. But it suggests that this kind of society (a "meritocracy") where people who are born into the good life are the ones that can succeed, is okay so long as these meritorious people "contribute to the betterment of the world and share their luck with others", a phrase which sounds like a mere tithing-type responsibility to "give back."
Nah, I don't think so. I don't think that goes nearly far enough. This is not a society I want to live in--where the rich get richer and exercise some royal-like "noblesse oblige" interest in the dregs of society that their very success has created.
If we are to have a society that believes in merit, then it needs to be one that recognizes that the luck of birth has nothing to do with merit but with the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of too few people. Merit, in any useful sense, is only okay so long as the ranks of those who merit success can readily expand to include those not so lucky at the outset. Else the upper class will essentially become a superior caste that enjoys all the rewards, except for the crumbs handed out as charity, and the masses will be essentially peons serving the wealthy few.
How does one maintain a notion that merit is good but avoid the problem of the lucky, powerful few ruling over everyone else? It requires a lot of work, work we haven't been doing very well lately. It requires a decent minimum wage sufficient for people to live on. It requires government systems that actively reallocate resources towards those in need and away from those who already have plenty rather than providing millionarie congressmen millions more in agricultural subsidies for their agribusinesses as we currently do. Through a progressive (i.e., redistributive) tax system, a decent anti-trust system that prevents monopolies and even semi-monopolies, a more innovation-supporting copyright and patent system that does not allow a few well-funded groups to control too much of the new knowledge base for too long, a strong labor law system that does not allow employers to ride roughshod over workers, and a very strong sense of the public good and the need to maintain some systems of primary importance to core democratic values as public rather than private ones--like health care, education, and probably energy. We are failing on so many of these points, as anti-trust has withered to a shrunken ghost of its former self, as global MNEs exercise too much power over workers and communities, as companies are allowed to ignore the externalities of their success (government subsidies and government stability) and of their business models (environmental pollution, worker deprivation).
In particular, the tax system is so frequently under attack from the radical right because it offers an important tool for preventing oligarchy--through the estate tax, which should be strengthened rather than weakened, through the income tax, which should be made more progressive by getting rid of preferential rates for capital gains (among many other important progressive reforms), and through the provisions for standard deductions and personal exemptions and refundable credits, which can provide a part of the social safety net that any wealthy, advanced nation should provide.
These things won't happen until people stop allowing corporate greed--and the wealth and power ambitions of the Koch brothers and their ilk--to decide the fate of the nation. We do still have the power of the ballot box. We as individuals have to work to counter the corporatist creedo that is being preached by Koch-funded think tanks and "social welfare" (really political party) groups. We have to elect people willing to fight for a sustainable democracy and to legislate against the interests of the biggest and most powerful businesses and their owners/managers. The corporatist lobby that commodifies everything is extraordinarily powerful. Fighting it isn't easy. But it must be done.
See the Motherboard article, below, for another analysis of the "meritocracy" idea, and some insight into what the inventor of the term, Michael Young, meant to be doing in his seminal work a half century ago.


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A few months ago I was given the assignment to write at least one article each month related to CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) or the security camera industry that people might find interesting. This month I spent a lot of time deciding what I am going to write about. I kept saying to myself, how many of these articles can I write that someone would really find entertaining?
Then I realized, these days almost everyone finds Closed Caption Television entertaining whether they know it or not. I mean it's everywhere and we all see it almost every day. It could be a clip on the nightly news of the bank robbery in progress or the goofy kid on the internet that we laugh at because he was caught on tape doing something funny.
They even have entire television shows made completely from DVR security recordings, surveillance footage and police car dash cam video. You know "Amazing Police Chases Caught On Tape", "When Animals Attack" or "Americas Dumbest Criminals 1, 2 ,3 and 4" and don't forget the slew of Haunted / Paranormal TV shows and movies that have become so popular ever since "The Blair Witch Project".
Without CCTV footage many of these shows wouldn't have anything to show you. As a matter of fact one of the most popular horror franchises in recent years, "Paranormal Activity" ,absolutely depends on home video and security camera footage to tell the story and capture paranormal events.
It's amazing that there is such controversy regarding privacy when people think they are being watched but we all love to spend hours each week watching others being watched.
Everyone knows that most of today's "Reality TV" is not so real at all and in most cases is very much scripted, but they are still more popular than ever.
Even reality TV shows employ the use of "Closed Circuit Television" to give that viewer a sense of reality. Have you noticed that in recent years when you are watching the crazy group of people all locked up in one house trying to get along (by that I mean fighting like cats and dogs) that most of the show is taped with a very high quality audio and video recording but when a couple goes into the bedroom to speak in private, talk behind someone's back or do what couples do in behind closed doors, all of a sudden you are watching and hearing them on a black and white, grainy surveillance video camera.
Of course the film crew could have just followed them and filmed with the same high quality video but when the viewer sees this on what appears to be CCTV footage it sub-consciously makes it more exciting to watch. It's like they are hearing and seeing something they're not supposed to.
So, the question is, have you realized how often you see CCTV used as entertainment? If not the reason may be that you don't realize how often you see CCTV used for non-entertainment purposes every day.
When we think of uses for CCTV the first things that come to mind are security cameras and surveillance video or even the new traffic cameras that are popping up everywhere.
Believe it or not closed circuit television is being used all over the world for reasons you may have never even thought of.
Here are a few examples of other uses for CCTV beyond the standard applications mentioned above.
- Some food related industries use CCTV to record video inside baking ovens to ensure the quality of their product.
- Industrial plants also use it to monitor work flow, productivity and product constancy.
- In Germany, Grand Prix Racing has set up a system so cameras can watch areas around the track where cars may accidently get out of control and go off course. If motion is detected in these areas the system automatically alerts the track officials and safety crews to that specific area.
- CCTV is also used to monitor the flow of traffic in certain areas, in courtroom proceedings and in police interviews or interrogations.
- You might have seen or even have one of those new "Back-Up Cameras" in your car. That is a closed circuit television system.
Oddly enough some of non-entertainment CCTV applications have become a source of entertainment. Take courtroom coverage, criminal interviews and interrogation footage for instance. Entire TV Channels have been created to watch this stuff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just look at the ID and Courtroom TV Channels. I just wonder when the Vehicle Back-up Camera Channel is coming!
The Huffington Post, a website that offers News, blogs and original content has a whole section devoted to CCTV news, articles and videos based on events caught on Closed Circuit Television. You can take a look here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/cctv.
Here is something interesting I found while doing some research. It's a CCTV Treasure Hunt.This is a game where people go around taking photos of places where they find CCTV cameras and then upload the location and photo to marker on Google Maps. The idea is to visually map the surveillance system around Europe. Looking at the map I do not see to many markers, so it doesn't seem that it's caught on so far but the idea is very interesting. Check it out at the following link. http://cctvtreasurehunt.wordpress.com/map/
If you search YouTube for "CCTV Video" you will get over one and a half million results. You will find videos that include earthquakes, hurricanes, robberies, hauntings, people getting undressed, people getting arrested, super human teleportation, physical abuse, car crashes, plane crashes, elevator footage, military strikes and people falling onto train tracks just to name a few, and that just the first page!
The point is this is all on YouTube which is now a form of entertainment. These videos were not recorded intentionally and without CCTV most of us would never have seen them. I don't know if that's necessarily good or bad but it is amazing when you think about it.


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The AMC series Breaking Bad has often been called "addictive," and the descriptor isn't merely a pun on the show's depiction of addicts and drug dealers. This most unusual dramedy of errors is one of the most riveting hours on television, what you might get if you cooked up a special blend of Weeds (suburban drug dealer), The Sopranos (crime saga meets domestic drama) and The Shield (gangland thriller that's a little sick and a lot badass). Thanks to creator Vince Gilligan (a veteran of The X-Files) and star Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad continues to shock and delight in its irresistible third season.
For his portrayal of high-school chemistry teacher turned drug manufacturer Walter White, Cranston has won three consecutive (and well-deserved) Emmy Awards, the most recent for his work in Season Three. The third season picks up with Walter literally picking up the pieces from a mid-air plane collision for which he is indirectly responsible. By season's end, Walter will have gone deeper into badness, albeit still with the overriding motivation of protecting his family and his principal partner in crime, the strangely endearing punk Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). Walter and Jesse are very much at odds, with the latter having cleaned up in rehab but still deeply depressed by the fatal overdose of the love of his life. Walter has more immediate concerns: as his pushed-to-the-brink wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) demands a divorce, Walter confesses the truth he has so tenaciously hidden from her, a seismic shift for the series. Unbeknownst to Walter, the wages of Season Two have arrived in the form of "The Cousins" (Luis and Daniel Moncada), two silent but terrifying assassins seeking revenge.
The season's central storyline deals with the evolving business arrangement between Walt and Gus Fring (a brilliantly measured Giancarlo Esposito), the local businessman whose Los Pollos Hermanos fast-food chicken chain is but a front for a thriving crystal meth distribution empire. Gus offers Walt $3 million for three months of work "cooking" meth in a state-of-the-art laboratory that appeals to Walt's still-strong inner scientist. In remission from his lung cancer, Walt has determined to end his career as a drug dealer, but Gus appeals to his ego, circumstances conspire, and Walt relents; this leads to a comical though short-lived bromance with new assistant Gale Boetticher (David Costabile of The Flight of the Conchords), whose Master's in organic chemistry positions him as the polar opposite of Jesse, Walt's underachieving former student. As ever, Walt's brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) stays hot on the trail of Walt's criminal alter ego "Heisenberg," a pursuit that keeps Hank in mortal danger.
It's somewhat miraculous how much ground Breaking Bad covers in its celebrated third season. In addition to the creeping-menace suspense and black humor surrounding Walt's various sins (take the wickedly funny high school assembly in the aftermath of the plane crash), Gilligan crafts an entirely credible, funny-sad divorce subplot that ably serves Gunn and RJ Mitte as the Whites' angry, confused teenage son Walt, Jr. The show's stock in trade is backing Walt into seemingly inescapable corners, wild cliffhangers that culminate in the staggering one-two punch of the season's penultimate episode "Half Measures" and finale "Full Measure." Superb acting all around contributes enormously (though always pitch-perfect, Paul tends to go undervalued next to his partner Cranston), but credit is also due to the fertile imagination of Gilligan and his writing staff in devising the cracked cast of characters, including the great Bob Odenkirk's prime slime Saul Goodman ("Better Call Saul!"), Jonathan Banks' always surprising cleaner Mike, and the unforgettable paraplegic, furiously bell-ringing Don Salamanca (Mark Margolis, in an always astonishing silent performance).
The beautifully produced Breaking Bad takes full advantage of its Albuquerque, New Mexico locations, and makes terrific use of source music, invariably chosen for kitschy irony. The crack directing staff includes Gilligan and Cranston, as well as feature helmer Rian Johnson (Brick), whose gripping episode "Fly" makes a virtue of that TV necessity known as the "bottle show" (in it, Walt becomes the Ahab to a housefly's Moby Dick). The banter between Walt and Jesse—who eventually reconcile—is always pure gold, whether they're bickering or showing unlikely insight into each other. Above all, though, the show's raison d'être is in its title: the series explores the ways ostensibly good people can be pushed to the point of "breaking bad," and season three fascinatingly expands the number of characters to whom the title can apply.
Sony gives Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season a sizzling hi-def package in a three-disc Blu-ray set. The transfers here are fantastic, with crystal (meth) clarity and perfectly calibrated color and contrast; some minor digital noise here and there doesn't much distract from the beautifully textured, tight, solid picture quality. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks are surprisingly robust for a TV series, especially one with limited action like Breaking Bad: the mixes consistently impress with a strong low end, subtle and precise ambience, and effective directionality.
The awe-inspiring collection of bonus features begins with nine engaging commentary tracks: commentary on "Más" with creator Vince Gilligan, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Bob Odenkirk and co-producer Moira Walley-Beckett; commentary on "Kafkaesque" with Gilligan, Betsy Brandt, writer George Mastras and director of photography Michael Slovis; commentary on "Half Measures" with Cranston, director Adam Bernstein, visual effects supervisor Bill Powloski, writer Peter Gould, Jonathan Banks and Slovis; commentary on "I See You" with Gilligan, Cranston, Brandt, RJ Mitte and writer Gennifer Hutchison; commentary on "Sunset" with Gilligan, Dean Norris, writer-director John Shiban, editor Kelley Dixon and music supervisor Thomas Golubic; commentary on "One Minute" with Norris, director Michelle MacLaren, writer Thomas Schnauz, composer Dave Porter, Daniel Moncada and Luis Moncada; commentary on "No Más" with Cranston, Paul, Gunn, editor Skip Macdonald, Porter and Slovis; commentary on "Fly" with Gilligan, Cranston, Paul and Walley-Beckett; and commentary on "Full Measure" with Gilligan, Paul, Gunn, Bob Odenkirk and Banks.
"White Heat: Cranston on Fire" (3:13, HD) details the shooting of a fire gag, with comments from Cranston and Gilligan, while "Pizza of Destiny: Cranston's Greatest Shot" (2:23, HD) similarly takes a closer look at a special take, with Cranston, Gould, and Gilligan.
"Silent But Deadly: The Brothers Moncada" (8:36, HD) focuses on actors Luis and Daniel Moncada and their fearsome characters; the Moncadas comment, as do Gilligan and Cranston.
"Team S.C.I.E.N.C.E." (4:03, HD) is an amusing CGI-animated short purportedly directed by the fictional Jesse Pinkman.
"Inside Breaking Bad" (1:15:07 with "Play All" option, HD) collects AMC promotional featurettes with Gilligan, Cranston, Paul, Gunn, Odenkirk, Mitte, Norris, transportation captain Dennis Milliken, Banks, Slovis, and Josh Foley of the transportation department. There's one behind-the-scenes featurette for each episode, as well as a few odd others, including ones in which Cranston and Paul answers fan questions.
Thirteen "Mini Video Podcasts" (1:08:12 with "Play All" option, HD) hosted by Dixon boast guest lists that include Cranston, Paul, Gilligan, Porter, Gould, Brandt, Mitte, Norris, Mastras, MacLaren, writer Sam Catlin, Walley-Beckett, Macdonald, Shiban, Golubic, Schnauz, producer Melissa Bernstein, Hutchison, Odenkirk, director Rian Johnson, and visual effects supervisor Matt Beck.
Also here are six "Better Call Saul Commercials and Testimonials" (10:21 with "Play All" option, HD) featuring Odenkirk; The Breaking Bad Family Photo Album (HD); "The Music of Breaking Bad" (4:34, HD) with Gilligan, Porter, and Golubic; "Hit and Run" (3:19, HD), with Gilligan, Gould, and Powloski explaining the season's money special effects shot; "AMC News Visits the Breaking Bad Writers' Room" (3:33, SD) with Gilligan and Walley-Beckett; and the season's "Gag Reel" (3:17, SD) of bloopers.
In all, this set will give fans old and new hours of quality entertainment, and with the Blu-ray set only a few dollars more than the DVD set, the price is right to splurge on HD.
Review gear: |
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer


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Having a skill that solely relies on code created by another is a hindrance to your career, in order to be able to say something is part of your skill set you have to understand it first.
That is why for all those claiming to have an in-depth knowledge of RWD, we'll be taking an extended look at it's backbone: the media query.
Like any good explanatory article, the starting point is always shedding light on the 'what is' factor.
In RWD, a media query is a CSS declaration that is used as a parameter for when to call other style declarations based on the dimensions of the current viewing device. There are two ways to call a media query: using an external stylesheet, or writing directly inside a stylesheet.
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External Call
<link rel="stylesheet"; media="screen and (min-width:320px) and (max-width:480px)"; href="css/mobile.css" />
CSS Direct Call
@media screen and (min-width:320px) and (max-width:480px){ /*Style Declarations For This Width Range */ }
What's Being Called Here?
The two code snippets above are both examples of two different ways to make CSS declarations that only are to be called when the viewing device is between 320px and 480px. A good idea of use for either one of these declaration parameters is for calling styles for mobile that would break outside of this range.
For instance loading certain styles for devices similar in width to iPhones, but making them to be ignored by certain Blackberry devices. Since we already have a general understanding of what media query is, let's now proceed to breaking it down.
For the remainder of this article, we will only be referring to the media query call used directly inside the CSS file.
@media screen
For those unfamiliar with the media attribute, it is used to separate what styles are called for different media types. Commonly used types are print, speech, projection, braille, and all. Despite the usefulness of each media type, for RWD our focus shall be geared toward the screen type.
By definition the screen value is intended primarily for color computer screens, and is the default value for CSS. This call to media type is how you start the query and later call on your parameters.
A call to set the body background to red for computer screens
@media screen{ body{background: #ff0000;} }
A call to set the body background to white for print
@media print{ body{background: #fff;} }
The Width Parameters
Now its time to take a look at what makes our websites responsive, the width parameters. If you've been following along you'll realize that @media screen
is what starts our query, and the min and max width attributes set the parameters.
So with this in mind, you know how to call different style declarations for different viewing widths. Like in our example from earlier, we set the min and max width to 320px and 480px respectively. This means that anytime the viewing device is at a width between these two parameters the declarations set in the query are called.
Difference between device-width and width
Sometimes you'll see developers making calls to device-width or width. The difference between these two here is that device width is going by the set width of your device, with any zoom type changes being ignored.
@media screen and (min-device-width:320px) and (max-device-width:480px){ /*Style Declarations For This Width Range */ aside{display:none;} }
You didn't think that this little article was going to be a stand alone did you? This article should just be viewed as a quality introduction to what is going to come later on, but it was necessary to first touch on the basics.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure about affiliate links here.


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NASHVILLE - Stunned lobbyists for Tennessee cities are trying to regroup after Rep. Mike Carter's bill upending the state's 15-year-old urban growth boundary law barreled through the House Local Government Committee on Tuesday despite their concerns.
The freshman Ooltewah Republican says he brought the bill affecting annexation because of Chattanooga officials' previous efforts to amend its growth plan in order to, in Carter's words, "cherry pick" affluent suburbs.
But he says the problems extend well beyond Chattanooga, and so does his bill. Calling it the "Ryan's buffet rule" after the all-you-can-eat restaurant chain, Carter says the bill requires cities to "clean" their "plates" by annexing everything in their current urban growth plans before seeking to amend them.
Another bill provision requires cities to meet their requirements to provide services to all previously annexed areas before amending the plans.
Because the bill affects every town and city in the state, that brought officials from the Tennessee Municipal League, which represents them, running to the full committee after the measure passed subcommittee last week.
"This is not limited to Chattanooga," TML Deputy Director Chad Jenkins told committee members. "It's not limited to Hamilton County. It's not limited to big cities. It's every city in the state."
Jenkins warned of "unintended consequences if this bill is passed" with impacts far beyond Hamilton County.
He also said the 1998 law, which requires cities to create urban growth plans as a solution to urban sprawl, worked in Chattanooga's case because other cities and Hamilton County easily blocked the city's effort on the local coordinating committee comprised of local mayors.
Jenkins also warned Carter's bill would block cities from annexing property held by property owners who wish to come into the city for various reasons. He cited as an example a farmer who wants to increase the value of his land by obtaining services like water and sewage to entice developers.
Carter's bill passed on a voice vote following an unusual recess to draft a written amendment to address one of cities' concerns. That came after some lawmakers objected to a verbal amendment.
The amendment seeks to make it clear that the bill would not prohibit cities from continuing to amend their plans in order to remove areas they no longer want in the growth plan. Some lobbyists indicated they were under the impression the bill would be delayed a week.
An attorney and one-time top aide to former Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey, Carter said that was never his plan. While he thought it was "obvious to everyone," he said was agreeable to the change.
Carter said while he has used Chattanooga as an example of problems, they are in other areas as well.
"I gave them examples I was personally aware of," Carter said. "If I thought it was that, I'd have brought a private act. You saw support [in committee] from across the state."
He said one local official told him that "if a city doesn't grow, it dies. Now, I think that's the definition of a Ponzi scheme. The absurdity of that is obvious. The state doesn't grow [geographically], it grows its economy. The county doesn't grow, it grows its economy -- or it raises its tax base."
The bill now goes to the House Calendar and Rules Committee, its final stop before hitting the House floor. Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, has not yet moved his Senate companion bill to Carter's measure.


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Many small manufacturers believe that business technology is something for larger companies only — it has a reputation of being too costly and disruptive. This simply isn't true. To bust this myth, we must first clear up common misconceptions, and below are the three most common ones we see in our daily work with small manufacturers and wholesale distributors.
1) There's no technology expressly designed for my business
Simply put, many small manufacturers and wholesale distributors have no idea that business software exists that is not only tailored for them, but also affordable. Traditionally, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other technology solutions targeted large companies, and these solutions were often too complex or costly to make sense for a smaller business. Today, however, software is available that offers ERP-like functionality that can be easily implemented at a price that makes more sense. In other words, it's now possible for a business of any size to find a software solution that better aligns their business and financial information, enabling them to more effectively manage the many moving parts of the business. And, thanks to ease of delivery of operation enabled by "the cloud," smaller businesses can proactively manage their businesses from anywhere, anytime.
The problem isn't a lack of technology and solutions available to smaller businesses; it's a lack of awareness. We as an industry must do a much better job of publicizing that solutions do indeed exist and creating widespread awareness of the many financial benefits of adoption.
2) Business technology is too costly
Seven out of 10 small manufacturers and wholesalers think that ERP (or ERP-like) software is too costly. This fact jumped out in a recent survey we did with SMB Group. Because of cost — and for some a lack of clear benefits — only 19 percent of those surveyed plan to evaluate ERP or ERP-like technologies in the next 12 months. That's far too few. But can you blame a business for not taking time to test drive technology if they "know" it's too expensive? That would be a foolish waste of time.
But having technology that makes your business better and your life easier isn't too costly. In fact, thanks to the cloud, you can pay as little as a few hundred dollars a month for visibility that could potentially net you thousands, all while spending less time trying to diagnose business problems (or find opportunities) and, for some, spending less time at work. Let's consider what the cloud offers: no expensive hardware to purchase, a flexible, all-inclusive monthly subscription and new capabilities added when they're available. None of these screams "high cost," and what you get from the nominal investment is insights about your financial performance, tips to improve efficiency and opportunities for growth, which may have once been complex, but is now accessible — and affordable, even for a sole proprietorship.
3) Business technology is too complex to implement
If you can log into a Gmail account, you can log in to a business software account. Thanks again to the cloud, accessing business software can be as easy as entering a password into a web or mobile browser. Sure, some set-up is required to connect the various parts of your business, but none of this requires an IT department or expensive consulting support. Most businesses that start using ERP-like technology are up-and-running within a week. Shortly thereafter you'll be comfortable enough to start asking questions about your business that are easily answered by opening simple screens that have be pre-configured to give you the right data at the right time. The toughest part of technology is pulling lots of data into useful formats that can be interpreted quickly, and the software basically takes care of this part. The data — your data — is all of the sudden there for you to use. That's far from complex, unless, of course, you start enjoying having such visibility into your business that you begin to test new things, including pulling your accountant in to jointly think of new ways to grow your business.
The bottom line
Misconceptions can often hold us back from doing what's best for us. And what's best for businesses is certainly greater visibility; and without that visibility it's impossible to realize whatever dreams you have for your particular business. It follows then that businesses without technology are incurring unnecessary costs and enduring undue complexity. That's ironic, because cost and complexity are two of the primary misconceptions that prevent many companies from NOT taking the leap.
The last misconception, that no company has cared enough to design technology for the "little guy" is perhaps the easiest to fix, thanks to publications such as Manufacturing Business Technology that give folks like me an opportunity to clear the air. But we also understand that there are certainly more than three things that may be holding you back from taking your business into the so-called cloud. Whatever those reasons are, share them openly here and in other industry communities, because only in dialogue can we overcome natural resistance to change. Let's address as many misconceptions as we can as quickly as possible so that you can soon capitalize on all the benefits that are only a few clicks away.
Steve Leavitt, GM of U.S. Cloud Solutions for Exact.
For a free 30-day trial of Exact Online software, please visit http://www.exactonline.com/pricing/trial.


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By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift
WASHINGTON – Communist China has become Fascist China, and it did so without fanfare or even official notice, which is why the world's democracies still cling to the old title. But this is not a matter of semantics; it is a matter for serious concern.
Communism is based upon limited membership one-party rule and an extreme form of socialism that disavows private ownership of property and the capitalist profit motive. Fascism is based upon limited membership one-party rule and a form of command control capitalism, which simply means individuals and companies are free to seek profits provided they obey the government's directives. In reality friends of the government often receive favored treatment, which is why there is such a concentration of wealth among high-ranking Chinese government officials.
Both communism and fascism are the antithesis of the values contained in the U.S. Constitution's first 10 Amendments, the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, assembly, and religion. It is the absence of these rights that effectively provide the leader of the party, who is also the leader of the nation, with extraordinary police-state powers. It is through these powers that communist and fascist leaders become entrenched and dictatorial, often giving them absolute control over party and country alike.
What then is China? Clearly it is no longer a communist nation. Rather, it resembles the fascist nations of the 1930s in Italy, Germany, and Spain. Each of those nation's leaders at the time had a virulent hatred of communism, and the Spanish Civil War was primarily fought between fascists and communists. And while Spain was devouring itself, Germany and Italy were thriving to such a degree through the use of deficit spending that they avoided the Great Depression that was engulfing the world's democracies. That deficit spending not only created wealth, it enabled those fascist dictators to build up their armed forces to a threatening level.
Over the last decade, China rid itself of the unworkable economic dictates of communism that had caused the Soviet Union's communist government to implode and instead embraced the fascist totalitarian form of capitalism that has catapulted the country into the second largest economy in the world. And like its predecessors of the 1930s, an inordinate portion of that money is going into armaments, which is why Fascist China poses a much greater threat to world peace than Communist China ever could.
© 2014 U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
Distributed by U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
follow @WMerryGoRound


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QTS has the largest specialised RRV plant fleet in the UK. Have a look at our fleet and get in touch if you think we have the equipment you require
We pride ourselves on our strategic partnerships nationwide. As supporters of the local community, we make sure we give something back.
Our Youth Athlete programme was developed to help struggling athletes become masters of their own sporting disciplines.
Think you have what it takes to work with us, why not apply to our sub-contractor process and tell us how you can benefit our company.
Make sure you follow us on social media to keep up to date with all things QTS.
To see some impressive footage of what we do, follow our YouTube Channel.
Think you have what it takes to join QTS? Have a look at our current vacancies and get in touch.
Prosperity and growth through quality, innovation, collaboration, integrity and responsibility.


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Media Contact:
Elise Anderson
(310) 206-7537
UCLA Anderson School of Management Provides Free
Entrepreneurship Program for Veterans with Disabilities
LOS ANGELES, CA – July 20, 2011 –UCLA Anderson School of Management and a select group of business schools are offering the fourth consecutive Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). Some twenty-four military personnel who were injured in the line of duty will receive education and training in entrepreneurship and small business management free of charge. The program, which runs between July 23 and 31, 2011, is designed to help participants learn essential skills that will lead to successful careers in starting, growing and managing entrepreneurial ventures.
"We have an obligation to support disabled veterans who return to our communities and seek to build meaningful economic opportunities for themselves and others," said Professor Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., Senior Associate Dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management. "With UCLA Anderson's highly regarded entrepreneurship faculty and programs, we are honored to be providing these veterans with the tools to advance their entrepreneurial ambitions."
EBV applications are accepted from veterans with a 'service-connected disability,' as designated by the Veterans Administration, and who have served on active duty after September 2001. Candidates must demonstrate a strong interest in entrepreneurship, high motivation for owning and managing a business, and a commitment to completing the program. To date, more than 50 veterans from around the nation have graduated from the program since its inception at UCLA Anderson.
Amy Sufak, a 2009 EBV alum and president of Red Energy Public Relations, Inc., was so moved by the program that she now serves as a course instructor. "I sincerely appreciate the resources and training this program provided me so that I could create a solid business that is still growing strong three years later," said Sufak. "This program is about people helping people, and paying it forward to help change the life of one veteran at a time."
The EBV was introduced by the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University in 2007. The following year, the EBV Consortium was launched as a national partnership with UCLA Anderson School of Management, Florida State University's College of Business and Mays Business School at Texas A&M. Purdue University, the University of Connecticut and Louisiana State University have since joined the consortium. The EBV is designed around two guiding principles. The first focuses on practical training in new venture creation and growth, including information on programs and opportunities specific to disabled veterans and the businesses that they own. The second focuses on establishing a support structure for graduates through mentoring and other forms of technical assistance.
The UCLA Anderson EBV program is administered by the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and is comprised of three distinct phases. Students develop their initial concepts during the online component of the program; participate in experiential workshops and in-class learning while at UCLA; and receive ongoing support and mentorship from UCLA Anderson faculty and alumni in the year following the residential component. With the generous support of corporate sponsors and private individuals, the entire program – including tuition, travel, and accommodations – is offered at no cost to the veterans.
"We are extremely grateful for the generous support that we have received for the EBV program," said Elaine Hagan ('91), executive director of the Price Center. "The success of our past three classes has demonstrated the enormous value of the EBV, and we expect that this year's program will have a significant impact on the lives of our veterans and their communities as well."
About the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies:
The Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UCLA Anderson School of Management is an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurial education and research. With a distinguished faculty as its cornerstone, the Center oversees activities that advance the theory and practice of entrepreneurship as well as the related fields of technology and innovation, venture capital and private equity, and social enterprise. Well known for the impact of its outreach programs, the Price Center fosters a spirit of innovation in individuals, enhances the managerial capacity of organizations, and prepares entrepreneurial leaders who will provide significant, sustainable and economic value to society.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management:
Celebrating 75 years of Business Beyond Usual, UCLA Anderson School of Management is regarded among the leading business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty members are globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides a distinctive approach to management education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in its MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Global Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, doctoral and executive education programs. Combining highly selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a world-wide network of 39,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.
Note to journalists: Contact information for program participants available on request.


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This section of the forum is for members to discuss topics that are related to the ARM edition of Kali Linux.
Here you can discuss scripts, projects, and ideas that you are working on that are related to information security and penetration testing using the ARM version of Kali Linux.
Posts that are not related to ARM Kali Linux or are against the forum rules will be removed without notice.
Any posts that could be answered by a simple internet search or that are pertain to basic linux usage are not needed and will be removed without notice.
Any posts a moderator or administrator feels that stretch the bounds of this section, will be removed without notice at their sole discretion.
Useful Links
- Forum Rules - Must be followed by all members
- How to Make a Valid Thread - Our advice on creating a new post
- Official Kali Linux Documentation - Answers commonly asked questions as well as having solutions for known issues
- Official Kali Linux Bug Tracker - Submit any Kali Linux bugs here


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DSS Arrests Ifeanyi Ubah Over N11b Oil Theft
Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Ubah has been arrested by the Department of State Services.
His arrested, was apparently, revealed today in a statement by spokesman, Tony Opuiyo.
Opuiyo aid Ubah was arrested on Friday in connection the theft of petrol kept in his tank farm in Lagos by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The product was valued at over N11 billion.
The agency said Ubah's action amounted to economic sabotage, with "capacity to negatively impact on national economy".
Opuiyo gave additional reasons for Ubah's arrest. He said he has further engaged in other activities inimical to national security and public order.
"In furtherance of his gimmicks to undermine the government and people of Nigeria, he has incited members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), a critical player in the downstream sub-sector of the Petroleum Industry, to refuse/stop the lifting of products.
"This is part of his plans to curry their sentiments and cause them to embark on strike and also stage protests in his favour with the ulterior motive of arm-twisting the NNPC to abandon the cause of recovering the stolen products. The implications of this on law and order is, in fact, a common knowledge. It is consequent upon this that the Service arrested and will prosecute him forthwith.
"The public is hereby reassured that the Service will collaborate with appropriate agencies to ensure that the mischievous activities of any person or group(s) to engage in illegal activities will not affect the effective distribution of products across the country. It will also support such agencies to bring to book individuals or companies involved in any criminal act that undermines the nation's economy".


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UIA will take Ukrainians from China and students from Delhi on a single special flight
Ukraine International Airlines special flight to the Chinese city Tianjin will be operated on September, 26. The initial date for the evacuation of Ukrainians was set for September, 17, however, as the load capacity was less than 30 percent, the flight had to be postponed.
Passengers that refused to fly after the transfer of the flight were offered a ticket refund.
Thus, Ukrainians will be avacuated in the near future - on September, 26.
In addition, thanks to the coordinated work of the embassies of Ukraine, India and China, it is possible to make a flight with an intermediate landing in Delhi. An additional flight segment is needed to transport more than 200 students from India that are returning to study in Ukraine. The entry restrictions on the entry of foreigners and stateless persons to Ukraine do not apply to students that are arriving to study in Ukraine.
Thus, it will be possible to bring home Ukrainians from the People's Republic of China and foreign students from Delhi, despite the lack of direct flights between Ukraine, China and India.
As mentioned earlier, UIA flight to Tianjin is a special flight that is not in airline's regular flight program. The organization of such flights is always in cooperation with the Embassies of Ukraine - the airline plans the flight based on the list of passengers from the Embassies.
The organization of a flight from Tianjin to Kyiv with a landing in Delhi was a diplomatic victory of Ukrainian diplomats. Ukraine International Airlines is grateful to everyone who made this flight possible.


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Media Piracy in Emerging Economies is the first independent, large-scale study of music, film, and software piracy in emerging economies, with a focus on Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, and Bolivia.
Based on three years of work by some thirty-five researchers, Media Piracy in Emerging Economies tells two overarching stories: one tracing the explosive growth of piracy as digital technologies became cheap and ubiquitous around the world, and another following the growth of industry lobbies that have reshaped laws and law enforcement around copyright protection. The report argues that these efforts have largely failed, and that the problem of piracy is better conceived as a failure of affordable access to media in legal markets.
Major Findings
- Prices are too high. High prices for media goods, low incomes, and cheap digital technologies are the main ingredients of global media piracy. Relative to local incomes in Brazil, Russia, or South Africa, the retail price of a CD, DVD, or copy of MS Office is five to ten times higher than in the US or Europe. Legal media markets are correspondingly tiny and underdeveloped.
- Competition is good. The chief predictor of low prices in legal media markets is the presence of strong domestic companies that compete for local audiences and consumers. In the developing world, where global film, music, and software companies dominate the market, such conditions are largely absent.
- Antipiracy education has failed. The authors find no significant stigma attached to piracy in any of the countries examined. Rather, piracy is part of the daily media practices of large and growing portions of the population.
- Changing the law is easy. Changing the practice is hard. Industry lobbies have been very successful at changing laws to criminalize these practices, but largely unsuccessful at getting governments to apply them. There is, the authors argue, no realistic way to reconcile mass enforcement and due process, especially in countries with severely overburdened legal systems.
- Criminals can't compete with free. The study finds no systematic links between media piracy and organized crime or terrorism in any of the countries examined. Today, commercial pirates and transnational smugglers face the same dilemma as the legal industry: how to compete with free.
- Enforcement hasn't worked. After a decade of ramped up enforcement, the authors can find no impact on the overall supply of pirated goods.


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PERRIN, EDITH, gentlewoman and social reformer; b. in England, daughter of Thomas Perrin and Margaret —; d. single early in 1909 in England.
For Edith Perrin, the spring of 1893 was a momentous one. The convergence of changes in both her private life in England and the public lives of women in Canada would combine to allow her to embark upon a course of social activism in British Columbia. At home, her brother William Willcox Perrin, the well-known progressive vicar of St Luke's Church in Southampton, brought her the exciting and gratifying news that Queen Victoria had appointed him to the see of British Columbia in the Dominion of Canada and that he would be consecrated bishop at Westminster Abbey. Miss Perrin agreed to accompany her bachelor brother to his new posting and assist him by undertaking many of the duties routinely the responsibility of a cleric's wife.
Edith Perrin arrived in Victoria at an auspicious time for a woman of her abilities, situation, and outlook. Intelligent, socially secure, and unencumbered by the daily responsibilities of motherhood or employment, she examined her new surroundings and found much to be remedied. As the sister of the bishop she quickly became aware of the societal and personal distress connected with drunkenness, poverty, prostitution, child neglect, and overwork. In concert with a growing band of like-minded women, she joined the campaign to extend the traditional role of woman as helpmate from the confines of family life into the public sphere [see Eliza Arden Robinson]. Characterized as maternal feminists, this generation of activists argued that social problems were amenable to solution through appropriate amounts of personal persuasion, public education, and legislative force. Strength in the public realm was achieved through the formation of women's associations that operated as educational and lobby groups.
Edith Perrin's skills as an organizer were immediately apparent in the formation in 1894 of the Local Council of Women of Victoria and Vancouver Island. As chairman from 1895 to 1899 of the council's influential committee on laws for the protection of women and children, Miss Perrin initiated investigations into the conditions of working women and children and the prevalence of the sweating system in Victoria. She served as president of the club from 1899 to 1903, and under her guidance it vigorously campaigned on behalf of women seeking positions on the Victoria school board and helped in securing legislative changes to provide police matrons, medical care for mentally ill women, curfew laws, child protection, and the introduction of domestic science into the provincial school curriculum. She also represented British Columbia on the board of the National Council of Women of Canada in 1896 and 1897 and attended the convention of the International Council of Women, held in England in 1897, as a delegate of the national council. For her outstanding service, life memberships in the Victoria and national councils were awarded to her in 1903.
Like many female reformers of this period, Edith Perrin also devoted her energies to the temperance cause [see Grace Sarah Hall Thompson; Huldah S. McMullen]. She belonged to the Victoria branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of British Columbia, and her contribution to it was most obvious in her position as secretary to the WCTU's provincial Refuge Home for prostitutes and unwed mothers. From 1897 to 1901 she lobbied the provincial government, cajoling its members to contribute to the building fund so that a new house could be built away from the "centre of the city, with temptations and snares at its very doors."
Concern for society's marginal members also was apparent in Miss Perrin's advocacy of improved conditions for dependent and delinquent children. The formation of the Children's Aid Society of Victoria in 1901 was due in large measure to the campaign mounted by the Local Council of Women during Perrin's presidency to secure provincial legislation for the protection of neglected, abandoned, and illegitimate children. Fittingly, she served as the society's first president during 1901 and 1902 and remained on the board until she left Victoria.
Just as her brother's situation served as the catalyst for Edith Perrin's move to Canada, so too his actions prompted her permanent return to England in 1904. At the age of 56, Bishop Perrin decided to marry and Miss Perrin vacated Bishop's Close, her home of 11 years. Her co-workers at the Local Council of Women regretted the removal of their "loved President" whose "sound judgment, kindly tact and devotion to the work" had served not only their organization but several others. Her legacy to British Columbia remained in the legislative changes she helped to instigate.
Daily Colonist (Victoria), 1894–1904. Victoria Daily Times, 1894–1904, 1909. Canadian men and women of the time (Morgan; 1898 and 1912). Lyn Gough, As wise as serpents: five women & an organization that changed British Columbia, 1883–1939 (Victoria, 1988). L. L. Hale, "The British Columbia woman suffrage movement, 1890–1917" (ma thesis, Univ. of B.C., Vancouver, 1977); "Votes for women: profiles of prominent British Columbia suffragists and social reformers," In her own right: selected essays on women's history in B.C., ed. Barbara Latham and Cathy Kess (Victoria, 1980), 287–302. [I. M. Marjoribanks Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of] Aberdeen [and Temair], The Canadian journal of Lady Aberdeen, 1893–1898, ed. and intro. J. T. Saywell (Toronto, 1960). NCWC Yearbook, 1894–1904. O. R. Rowley et al., The Anglican episcopate of Canada and Newfoundland (2v., Milwaukee, Wis., and Toronto, 1928–61). Who's who in western Canada . . . , ed. C. W. Parker (2v., [Vancouver?], 1911–12), 1. Who was who, 1929–40 (1941). Woman's Christian Temperance Union of British Columbia, Report (New Westminster), 1894–1904. Year book of British Columbia . . . , comp. R. E. Gosnell (Victoria), 1897.
© 1994–2024 University of Toronto/Université Laval
Cite This Article
Linda L. Hale, "PERRIN, EDITH," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 4, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/perrin_edith_13E.html.
The citation above shows the format for footnotes and endnotes according to the Chicago manual of style (16th edition). Information to be used in other citation formats:
Permalink: | http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/perrin_edith_13E.html |
Author of Article: | Linda L. Hale |
Title of Article: | PERRIN, EDITH |
Publication Name: | Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13 |
Publisher: | University of Toronto/Université Laval |
Year of publication: | 1994 |
Year of revision: | 1994 |
Access Date: | March 4, 2024 |


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During that time, the popularity of cyclocross in North America has skyrocketed, thanks in no small part to Jeremy. Following the announcement that his Aspire Racing team is ending, we spoke to him for a final word. Thank you J-Pows.
An interview with Jeremy Powers
Jeremy Powers is one of the most inspiring figures in cycling. A four-time US national cyclocross title holder, charismatic leader and champion of talented youngsters, Rapha is incredibly proud to have sponsored his team for the past seven years.
30 January 2018Hi Jeremy, can you tell us how the Rapha-Focus team started out?
I remember the first call from Slate Olson (then Rapha Chief Marketing Officer) about the opportunity, and I was so excited for this new brand to support me. Slate sent me the beautiful Classic Softshell Jacket, the one with the zippers under the armpits, and I went to my group ride and everyone was like 'oh my gosh dude, that is so nice!'. That was 2011, when there wasn't that kind of clothing being made. Shortly after that, we started putting everything together with the other sponsors and it was very clear that they were going to go above and beyond. There wasn't a limit to what they would give to allow me to be my best.
Are there any memories from the last seven years that really stand out?
I have great memories of my first national title in 2012 because Slate and Scott Ritschoff (then CEO of Focus Bikes) were coming to the races and were there that day. I was under immense pressure at the time. I hadn't won a national title my whole career, so I was very, very nervous. I remember the embrace with those guys after the finish line and thinking 'how pretty is this? You guys are putting money and energy into this and together we did something really special.' The idea that their support allowed me to be my best was something that I'll forever be grateful for.
There are so many great memories though, like when I won CrossVegas. It was 2012, my first year as national champion, and I won that race with conviction. There were a lot of big European riders there, such as Lars van der Haar and a young Wout van Aert, and I was really proud to win that as national champion in a beautiful new kit.
What have been your favourite Rapha products and kit designs over the years?
My favourite Rapha product is the Pro Team Jacket. It has a windfront with a stretch back and I love doing intervals in that because you can warm up and cool down in it really easily. Then there are the thick merino leg warmers, neck warmers, thermal bibs… Things like that just make your day so much better.
As for the kits, my favourite year was 2012. I had a white short sleeve national champion's kit, and a black long sleeve version. I just thought that it all looked really cool, and Oakley did custom glasses to match it all up. It was super pro.
You've long been involved in developing the talents of younger riders, most recently your teammates Ellen Noble and Spencer Petrov. Why is that?
When I realised that my goal of reaching the podium of a UCI World Cup or world championships wasn't realistic any more, I looked at people like Ellen Noble to do it. Giving Ellen that platform and formula to get on the podium of a World Cup [which Ellen achieved for the first time in September 2017] is what I love: people helping other people be their best. As humans we always look out for ourselves, so my moments in racing mean more to me than say Ellen's, but man, they're close. I remember the feeling last year when I was out riding and getting text updates saying that Ellen might win the U23 world championships. All I could think was 'oh my gosh, this is insane!'
What does the future hold for J-Pows?
It's a little undetermined. I really did try to win nationals this year [Jeremy came a close second to Stephen Hyde]. That was my focus, and if I had done it I could die happy. But whether I win four or five titles, it doesn't really change anything. I will always ride my bike, and it will be my passion forever. Whether or not I end up with a job in the industry, or start something locally in town, or I end up coaching a couple of riders, it's all open – I don't have something concrete starting March 1st. I haven't signed any contracts and my options are completely open. I'm just waiting to really see which doors open after this announcement. I may race another year, and if I do it'll be mostly domestic, based around the national championships.
Any last words?
I am just extremely grateful. All things end, and that's a beautiful time to reflect and be grateful. And gratitude is all I have. Rapha made it possible to have stories for my kids to watch on the internet. Unlike other riders I never looked at a sponsorship and thought 'what can you do for me?', I always looked at it as 'what can I do for them?'. I realised that Rapha were giving me the opportunity to chase this thing, so I really do have a big sense of gratitude, and an ability to live out a bunch of my dreams. I want to help people, do rides, learn, meet people and to be a part of something that meant a lot to a lot of people is what makes me smile every day.
A statement from Head of Rapha North America, Hillary Benjamin:
"Rapha feels incredibly honored to have been a part of such an impactful, successful and fun group of people. We've been a part of Jeremy's extended family for almost eight years and they've represented us and our brand incredibly well. I think everyone is well aware of Jeremy's long list of successes, and accomplishments with Aspire Racing, including national titles, world championship medals, and world cup podiums. And let's not forget Ellen Noble's and Spencer Petrov's remarkable ascendance.
But even besides these amazing achievements, we're more honored to have been a small part of this team's indelible contributions to the sport of cyclocross. As we reflect on what has been a truly amazing ride together, we've mutually decided not to continue our partnership into the 2018/2019 season as we are exploring other ways in which Rapha can continue to invest in the US cycling and racing scene. Of course we wish Jeremy and the crew at Aspire Racing nothing but continued success and happiness.
When this program started in 2011 it was built to be a power house, and to be a part of the emerging and exciting community of cyclocross. We believe we accomplished that – and so much more – through this partnership. We love the riders and staff who we've worked with over the years. We consider them friends and know that our relationships will extend well into the future."


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Back in September, it was fun to keep up with all the new premieres and see what had big ratings, what had critical success — and what was flopping before it could even begin. But it's hard to judge a TV show by its pilot. Now that the excitement of the new season has died down, shows are really settling into their storylines. Everyone has had a chance to weigh in, and while I brought you some of the early buzz on the new TV season a couple months ago, how do those shows fare now that they're in for a long haul? I promised I'd check in after the initial critical wave, and so here's the state of the TV. Adjust your DVRs accordingly.
Biggest winner!
Boardwalk Empire
Metascore: 88/100
The details: One of the strongest starts out of the gate managed to hang on to its supremacy throughout the new-season debuts. And it's easy to see why. Boardwalk Empire has everything you could want in a TV show: fine attention to period details (like Mad Men); a cast populated by gritty, textured gangsters in New Jersey (like The Sopranos); and the loveably sleazy Steve Buscemi.
The Walking Dead manages to stay alive this season… - Advertisement -
The Walking Dead
Metascore: 86/100
The details: Even though this Frank Darabont-written/-directed zombie-drama came on to the TV schedule late in the season — it premiered on Halloween — it made a pretty big impression. (Salon's Heather Havrilesky was moved to write: "A film-quality drama series about zombies? Somebody pinch me!") If you're a zombie fan — or a fan of human drama with a backdrop of zombies — you better jump on AMC's bandwagon quickly, because it only lasts six episodes.
Metascore: 85/100
The details: I was surprised at the outpouring of critical praise for this show — because, frankly, I'd never heard of it. But people who have seen it love it. PBS has modernized Sherlock Holmes, moving his story from Victorian London into the 21st century. The shame of it is, they only chose three mysteries to tell, and the last one — The Great Game — aired yesterday. But keep an eye out for repeats or DVDs if you're a fan of elementary deduction.
What we can learn from the winners is that, with the exception of those PBS specials (which might not even count as a full TV show, being only three episodes; if you want to DQ it, the fourth-place finisher is BBC America's Luther), cable is still putting out the highest quality television shows. Part of me is miffed; I don't want to have to pay extra to watch the best shows out there. But the other part understands that only on cable is there the freedom to experiment with zombies and gangsters, who might develop niche followings but rarely reach Dancing with the Stars-level ratings. But, even in their attempts at big ratings-grabs, networks still come up short. Hence, the list of the season's biggest losers.
Biggest Loser!
$#*! My Dad Says
Metascore: 28/100
The details: Spawned from a Twitter feed and starring Will Shatner as the titular dad, this old-school-style sitcom could be renamed Dads Say the Darndest Things. But don't expect fresh things from the Twitterverse; the New York Times wrote that the show is "a wholly generic sitcom so divorced from its source material that you have to pinch yourself to remember it had anything to do with the Internet, or with the world after 1985. It might as well have been based on a greeting card." Then again, the joke may be on us — CBS renewed the show for the rest of the season anyway, so it's not going away any time soon.
The Talk
Metascore: 34/100
The details: Another failure of CBS, this women's chat show tries to follow in the vein of The View with hosts Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini, and Marissa Jaret Winokur. I've never really seen a daytime talk show get so brutally roughed up by critics before, but the Boston Globe called this one "an hour of plastic blatherers pretending to be a microcosm of American women."
Metascore: 36/100
The details: You'd think that America has an unending appetite for law shows, but every once in a while one comes around that the people just reject. Outlaw, Jimmy Smits' law vehicle in which he plays a Supreme Court Justice who retires to go back to helping the poor and defenseless (!), is one of those few unsuccessful law outings. But, it won't bother anyone anymore; NBC has already canceled it.
What's your new favorite shows of this season? Let me know in the comments.


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How to reinstall Windows 10 after recovering VAIO back to original factory condition?
If you have recovered your VAIO back to factory condition original OS and wish to reinstall Windows 10. Follow the instructions listed at www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 to download Windows 10 media creation tool.
Note:- You can reinstall Windows 10 only if you have previously upgraded to Windows 10 and activated before 29th July 2016.
- Click on the links below for Windows 10 upgrade instructions for VAIO pre-loaded with:
- Windows 8
- Windows 8.1


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Quintessential Player
Developer's Description
Quintessential Player is a fully skinnable audio player that uses a plug-in architecture, allowing it to be as simple or as feature-laden as you like. Go for a minimal installation to preserve system resources, or add a variety of visualizers, library functions, DSP filters, language packs, and other plug-ins to extend the player's capabilities. Quintessential Player has full support for most popular audio formats, including MP3, MP3 Pro, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, and Windows Media. Other convenient features include CD ripping, MP3 encoding, cross-fading, and CDDB integration. Also, Quintessential allows you to listen to streaming audio from broadcasters such as Shoutcast and Icecast.


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Technology Tip: How to create a font of your own handwriting
December 11, 2009
Writing a letter or typing an email just got personal again.
Reading a hand-typed letter from a loved one just does not have the personal touch of a handwritten letter. I have some beautifully-written love notes that my great-grandparents wrote to each other before they were married. Imagine if these notes were typed by a computer?
With this new technology, you can (almost) have the best of both worlds. FontCapture will turn your own handwriting into your personal font that you can use when writing letters, typing emails, or typing anything where you can change the font.
Here's a letter I just typed to my mom in my own handwriting (click on image to enlarge):
And here's an email I just typed, again in my own handwriting (click on image to enlarge):
Pretty cool, isn't it? And it's really easy to do. Plus, it's free. Just head over to www.fontcapture.com and print their template. Then, with a good pen, transcribe the characters/letters in the template, scan it, and upload it. FontCapture turns your handwriting into a font that both Windows and Mac computers can use.
This works great if you're printing the document, but if you plan on sending an email/document to someone electronically in your own handwriting, they will first have to install your font on their computer before they can see your handwriting. This too is easy to do. Just attach the fontname.ttf file (that FontCapture creates for you) to an email, and have your correspondant copy the file to their Windows\Fonts folder.
You can continue to type your letters and emails, but now you can do it with a personal touch - your own handwriting.


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By Tashi Wangchuk
With all the rave reviews and buzz around Richard Gere's new film 'Arbitrage', I couldn't resist seeing this semi-fictional story about the notorious Bernard Madoff who embezzled over $65 billion in the largest financial fraud ever recorded in the US history. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers commended the film as a "first rate; a powerful feature debut boasting an Oscar-caliber Richard Gere firing on all cylinders."
So I hurried towards a nearby theater with bar, bought my ticket, grabbed the largest beer and excitedly went to see the movie. 'This is going to be one of the coolest moments of my life,' I thought as I sat two rows from the screen, holding my beer bottle. However, after I sipped some beer and sunk into my seat, the film rolled. I woke up with the audience applauding and leaving. It felt stupid to have slept throughout and missed the whole film. It was my lack of sleep the night before that put me to sleep.
However, I was determined to watch it again for Gere, who stars in movies only once in a while. So the very next day, I went to the theatre and bought my ticket, determined not to fall asleep.
Arbitrage is the first feature assignment of Nicholas Jarecki, a documentary filmmaker who graduated from the New York University film school at the age of 19. According to the film's official website, Nicholas is best described as an innovative, provocative filmmaker whose work focuses on larger than life characters and morally ambiguous themes of industry, power, and corruption. Jarecki financed the film himself that also stars Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, and Brit Marling.
In Arbitage, Richard Gere plays a hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller who was desperately trying to sell his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed. The film is about the race between morality and money. Although money wins, it is the morality that triumphs ultimately.
The film opens with Gere being interviewed by a TV news reporter. He then travels on a luxurious private jet, meets his extended family members who anxiously await his arrival for a birthday surprise. Very soon we get to see the dark side of Miller who is already reeling under his financial malpractices and an affair with his mistress. He is further sucked into the vortex of complexity when his car meets an accident that would kill his mistress while on a secret trip. It is now Michael Bryer (played by Tim Roth), the hawk-eyed detective's turn to expose Miller and his crime.
Gere's performance as Miller is stunning and real. His classy and finely ironed black suit and white shirt coupled with his silvery hair, adds aura to his stunning looks.
In Gere's career so far as an actor, I found Miller by far the best – even better than Edward Lewis of 'Pretty Woman' and Zack of 'The Officer and Gentleman.' I'm sure Mr. New Yorker will be among the strongest contenders for the Oscars this year.
Tim Roth, Susan Saradon and Brit Marling are equally praiseworthy of their work. However, it is Nate Parker who actually stole my sympathy with his outstanding performance as Jimmy Grant. The film could have been much better if someone younger and more seductive than Laetitia Casta could have played Miller's mistress. But this is the only downside that I could possibly think of with this film.
The pace of the story is tight, engaging, and above all intricately written. Being someone who believes that a good film is only possible if the story is engaging, I given full credit to the writer, Jarecki himself. The ubiquitous background score that runs throughout the film pushes the story and characters to a new level. Yorick Le Saux's cinematography is fresh, rich in colour and utterly beautiful.
Hats off to the entire cast and crew for making such a marvelous film! Tashi Delek!
Tashi Wangchuk is a Washington DC based independent filmmaker and TV producer whose earlier works include a feature length film: Richard Gere is My Hero & India's Doorshan commissioned film: Democracy in Exile among others.


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The publication of a nude picture of a popular Iranian actress currently in exile in Paris has sparked enormous Internet buzz, and polarized many Iranians conflicted about nudity—at a time that Iran's independent movie community is under severe repression by authorities. Is it a courageous act of challenging Islamic and cultural taboos, or an insensitive and selfish move that might give Tehran hardliners an excuse in to put more pressure on Iran's independent film community?
Earlier this week, France's Madame Le Figaro magazine published a photo of Golshifteh Farahani in which she posed with her hands covering her breasts. In a short video placed on the Internet by the academy that gives out the César—the French version of the Oscar—Farahani is seen with other individuals selected for an award. Everyone is removing their clothes, but only Frahani shows her bare breast to the camera.
Farahani 28, who is also a musician, is one of Iran's most popular actresses. She started her career in theater age 6, and appeared in her first film at 14. She has received a number of prestigious awards, such as a Silver Bear from the Berlin International Film Festival (2009) for the movie, Elly, directed by Asghar Farhadi, who received a Golden Globe Award for his new film, The Separation, last week. Farahani has starred in more than 15 films, including Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008), with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Less than 24 hours after the photo and video appeared on Facebook, thousands of people had shared or commented on them. Some saw the actress as brave to ignore the taboos in Iran. Considering Farahani was born after the Islamic Revolution and is considered a child of the Islamist system enforced by the Iranian regime, some saw her behavior as a protest against oppressive policies that for the past three decades have done things like force women to wear the hijab.
Over the past several weeks, Iranian authorities have tried to shut down the Cinema House, Iranian cinema's largest independent association, with some extremists criticizing what they called a consistent lack of regard for Islamic moral code within the Iranian film industry. And some critics say publishing a controversial photo of someone who earned her fame in the Iranian film industry would provide an excuse for such extremists to attack Iranian actors and expand their crackdown on the film industry.
"It is naïve to presume an act of an individual as representative of a whole generation—Golshifteh—represents nothing," said Ali Reza Eshraghi, Rotary fellow in the Communication Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "We don't know anything about the motives behind and the context of her decision, but we know that she has decided to continue her profession in France, which has a different system of morality and different decorum of business than Iran."
"While some pundits praise Golshifeth's nude appearance as if she has shocked the Islamic regime, I believe that the regime quietly enjoys and benefits from the photo, portraying her as a symbol of an opposition movement who is affected by the corrupt Western liberal democracies," Eshraghi added.
Golshifteh is not the first Iranian to appear nude before the camera after the 1979 Revolution. In a 2006 film, Scream of Ants, directed by acclaimed Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the actress and TV peronality Luna Shad was seen naked in some scenes—something unprecedented since the Islamic Revolution.
"Opposing this photograph is totally understandable in the existing atmosphere inside Iran, because the environment is not ready for such actions," Luna Shad told The Daily Beast in a telephone interview. "But I'm surprised at the reactions of Iranian intellectuals outside Iran.
"Though Iranians outside Iran are talking about democracy and freedom, I can see that their reaction to Golshifteh's choice in her environment in France is not that different from how they reacted to my choice seven years ago."
Well-known media critic Mehdi Jami wrote in his blog, Sibestan: "When the sanctimonious regime was driving thousands upon thousands of Iranians abroad, making them refugees of the world, it never thought it was preparing the basis for changes that would, sooner or later, affect the situation inside the country. Because these thousands upon thousands live among other cultures, and they enjoy freedoms that would change their behavior and the effect of their choices will no longer just stay outside Iran.
"Today, immigrant Iranians have turned into a source of change for those inside the country and use different media for communicating with their own people and this is history joking with a regime that has been our most ill-humored political and thinking system."
The pro-government media in Iran, however, harshly criticized the actress.
"In the latest published photograph of Golshifteh Farahani in France's Le Figaro newspaper, she has surpassed even Western countries' low moral values, and has appeared completely naked in front of the camera; something that even her fans would have never believed," said the Young Journalists Club (YJC), affiliated with the Iranian state television,.
On the actress's Facebook page—she has 86,000 fans—the photo was posted with the following text: "Golshifteh Farahani breaks the taboo of the so-called Islamic Hejab for Iranian actors in Le Figaro's Madame Magazine...there are a lot of nude photographs on the internet, but the nude picture of this exiled Iranian actress is different. This is for freedom and objection to censorship in Iran. This image is a scream against a society that is full of violence, racism, sexual discrimination, sexual abuse, and duplicity."
In December 2009, a short time after appearing in Body of Lies, Golshifteh told the Voice of America Persian that cinema is the first and last love of her life, but that she couldn't enjoy playing in Iranian films any more. When asked about the price she might have to pay for her choice, she said, "This direction [of my life] has been defined. For the perspective I had for my future, I had to go through this path."
Fariba Davoodi Mohajer, a women's rights activist, always maintained her Islamic hijab, until she moved to the U.S. in 2006. In 2010, Davoodi removed her hijab during an appearance on the popular VOA program, Parazit. The move triggered pro and con reactions.
"The Iranian woman is limited to the brutal judgments of 'musts' and 'must nots' and interference in her private domain, a collection of walls and glass holds that make her hopeless, passive, and smothered to death," Mohajer said. "The critical atmosphere created after the photograph's publication not only shows the truth among the conservatives and those related to the Iranian regime, but also among those who claim to support freedom and Iranian seculars, who would define freedom only within the realm of patriarchal relations."
Responding to the question of whether Golshifteh Farahani's naked photocould lead to pressure on Iran's independent cinema, Ali Abdi, an activist and anthropology Ph.D. student at Yale University, told The Daily Beast he believes Iranian leaders do not need any excuses for shutting down civil organizations.
"If we say that the rulers would take advantage of Golshifteh's photograph, it means that we have accepted the illegal methods of the rulers," Abdi said. "We must not sacrifice Golshifteh's freedom, nor anyone else's, for passing interests."
Prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, half-naked photographs were widely published in magazines and even in films. Alt such images always angered the religious class, the cultural apparatus of the shah, himself an avid supporter of drawing the Iranian society closer to the West, never made any effort to crack down.
Not surprisingly, given taboos about sex and sexuality in Iran, Golshifteh's parents said the photo was fabricated. This could explain why, several hours after the publication of the parents' opinions, the photo was removed from both Le Figaro's website and her Facebook page.
"My daughter is currently in India and she is well. I am her mother, and I assure you that my daughter does not do nudity or things like that," Fahimeh Rahimian, Golshifteh's mother, told the YJC News Agency.
"I don't know whether those who have been pushing this idea have even asked themselves why my daughter would do a thing like this?" Golshifteh's father, Behzad Farahani, told YJC. "A sick person has put this photograph on the Internet and has written some sentences underneath it, and he has thought that the people have easily accepted it."
Eshraghi, the UNC-Chapel Hill fellow, noted that, "Many objections came from the so-called modern and secular young generation who is in favor of the pro-democratic Green Movement and many of them live in Western countries." He added that, "This shows that the Islamic regime is still able to sell part of its ideology; what I call the 'politics of looking.' For ayatollahs, looking could be adultery by means of the eyes. A considerable number of Iranian people—wittingly or unwittingly—have bought this argument."
But how might the nude photo controversy affect Iran's political scene and pro-democracy movement?
"The story of Golshifteh Farahani has in fact 'bared' some of the social changes that have taken place in Iran, but it must be emphasized that this is only a portion of the changes," Morteza Kazemian, an Iranian pro-democracy political analyst living in Paris, told The Daily Beast. "The citizens' demands include the entirety of their basic and civil rights, for which the authoritarian rulers have no respect. Even their right to vote is taken away and their protests are answered with bullets, sticks, and imprisonment."


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African Youth Development Association (AYDA) Centre
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All 4 One Youth Club
Wednesdays 3pm to 6pm
An afternoon provision of social and informal education for young people with disabilities, learning difficulties and additional needs. Provided and funded by Croydon 0 to 25 SEND Service.
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All Aboard (formerly Engine Shed)
4th October 2020 13:00-15:00
All Aboard Club: play sessions for autistic/ADHD children who love trains They can enjoy their interest in a welcoming, safe and relaxing environment. We are very pleased to be returning…
London Museum Of Water & SteamGreen Dragon LaneBrentfordTW8 0EN
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The school supports pupils, aged 4 to 11, who have developmental language disorders (DLD). Enhanced learning provision (ELP) schools support pupils in mainstream schools with significant level of special needs.…
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Dance, drama and art classes for special needs adults and so much more.. Friday club is fully inclusive and run by professionals, our venue is fully accessible and lunch is…
The Arc: Friday club
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AskSARA is an online self-help tool that provides advice and information about equipment for health, home and daily living for disabled people. It will ask simple questions about you and your…
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This charity organises fun and inclusive fundraising events, raises autism awareness and helps grow the self-esteem of people on the spectrum.
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Autus exists to facilitate personal and professional growth for people with autism and complex needs, increasing opportunities for exciting and sustainable work to improve lives and prospects. Our trustees and…
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Babyzone at Legacy Youth Zone
Please join us at Babyzone - a drop in space for babies (0-6 months and 6-12 months) and toddlers (1-3 years) to play. We also have specific play sessions and…
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The Beautiful Octopus Club - Inclusive club night
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London's longest running inclusive club night, held at The Beautiful Octopus Club. Free and open to all
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Besides, I think the folks over at RPGBA are getting annoyed at me for talking about guns & ponies all the time.
OK, so before I begin, I'm sure some of you are asking "Just what the heck is Traveller?" The long version may be found here. The shorter version is "It's a science-fiction role-playing game that came out in the 1970s, roughly at the same time as D&D. It does not have nearly magical technology a la Star Trek, but neither is it space opera like Star Wars. It's a lot like the Firefly TV show, where a motley crew of murder hoboes in a small starship tramp about a chunk of space, looking for jobs and getting into trouble."
So anyway, here is the first in an irregular series of articles whereupon I expound with most profundity on background details most of my players likely don't care about.
How Drives Work in Traveller
Ship design in Traveller is based upon the Displacement Ton. I do not know why this is so, but it is. Everything, from fighters to dreadnaughts, has a hull measured in how many volumetric tons of liquid hydrogen it displaces.
- result in far more math than I find enjoyable, and
- require a complete refit of the starship rules.
I decided to fix this using my skill at technobabble*, and posited that the kinetic energy absorbed from inertia/momentum is directed outward from the grav envelope around the ship. This is how an air/raft works, and it's what Star Wars called repulsorlift. It's great for atmospheric maneuvering, takeoffs, and landings, because it manipulates the gravity field of a planet in the same way that airfoils manipulate an atmosphere in order to achieve flight. However, while this is suitable for low-speed applications, it doesn't give a lot of thrust for reaching orbit in a reasonable amount of time, and it definitely is not optimal for interplanetary travel.
Edit: This was sent to me via email by a helpful reader and I thought I'd include it. I'm clearly no engineer, but it seems to compliment what I said, only with more tech jargon:
Why the Displacement Ton?
Theoretically, the possibly recently discovered Higgs Boson is what gives matter mass. Mass is apparently where inertia comes from. If you can change the boson's characteristics, you can change your vessel's mass and inertia. So... Posit a gadget (like a high energy particle accelerator) that creates a field that alters the Higgs Boson spin. Crank it up, and your ship's mass drops. Crank it enough, and you go to zero mass. Very handy when you want to accelerate a ship.
Now assume that matter shows some resistance to the spin altering field. Low density matter (hydrogen) has high permeability. High density (uranium) has low permeability. A field of a given strength can cover a larger volume of hydrogen than it can a volume of uranium. So the displacement ton becomes shorthand for how much mass you can shift for a given energy input to your boson spin modulator.
Nitpickers may wonder what happens to matter in the field when the mass goes away. Doc Smith rather blithely blew that off in the Lensman books. You can, too. Tell them that since all matter within the field takes on the same boson spin condition, then RELATIVE to everything else IN THE FIELD it acts normally. You only go "massless" relative to the external universe beyond the field.
For higher thrust applications, such as reaching escape velocity or interplanetary travel, I figure the engines can just vent hydrogen onto (or pipe it near) the plasma created from the fusion engine, and the resulting explosion is channeled along gravitically-shaped nozzles. While it would be possible to get propulsion from just venting the plasma fusion directly aft, the combination of "low thrust" and "radioactive output" makes this a non-optimal choice. Contrast this with burning hydrogen exhaust in an oxygen environment: 2H2 + O2 --> 2H2O. It's eco-friendly!
More math from engineer friend:
Stripped to basics, you simply inject reaction mass (hydrogen or what ever; my own spacecraft ran on anything from H2 to methane to water) into the reactor plasma exhaust, which is VERY hot. More thrust. A nice thing about this is that the heat distributes through all the reaction mass, so the overall temperature drops enough that you can direct this exhaust with fairly conventional venturis (rocket nozzles) instead of electromagnetic focusing.